


you in january

by horsetrackhiggs



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Song Lyrics, i guess?, its tender fellas and im gay, mild spoilers possibly?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 17:24:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20213503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horsetrackhiggs/pseuds/horsetrackhiggs
Summary: Akira tried to focus on the painting the other at stopped them in front of. As much as the dark haired boy loved to hear the blue haired one talk, his dumb gay brain just couldn’t process any of the art lingo Yusuke was tossing out. It didn’t last for long, his eyes kept wandering and he wasn’t strong enough to keep fighting his desires.He hadn’t really known what to expect when he first got shipped off, but whatever this moment was right now...he could have never imagined it. But fuck, if it wasn’t the most welcomed surprise this past year had to offer.





	you in january

**Author's Note:**

> song is you in january by the wonder years
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trMuR3uWHD8

_ goddamn, you look holy _

_ hit from behind with light. _

_ you're a painting of a saint _

_ and i'm nervous stumbling over my lines _

_ when i tell you i love you _

_ and we stare at catalina. _

_ a city lost to the sea, _

_ carried out by the tide. _

_ you were the one thing i got right. _

…

The art museum was quiet; outside of the pair of boys, there was only a handful of others busying themselves by musing the current exhibit on display. It was a collection of landscapes by some old dude or something-- Akira had only barely skimmed over the pamphlet as he waited for his friend to arrive.

It’s not like Akira ever paid much attention to the art in the first place anyways. He never could focus with Yusuke standing next to him.

He became aware of his issue soon after Yusuke officially joined the Phantom Thieves. It was actually Ann that had called him out-- shooting him a text in the middle of the meeting to stop openly gazing at their new teammate; the dark haired boy responded with some excuse about how he needed to observe how the other moved in his day to day life to determine how to best use him in the Metaverse. 

But that didn’t explain how trained his eyes were on Yusuke’s mouth as he spoke; breath becoming hitched in moments where the artist’s own lips would curl up into a soft smile, eyes fluttering shut as an airy laugh erupted from him.

Ann simply valued her time and sanity too much to bring any of that up with her group's leader, rolling her eyes as she read through his response.

From the start, Akira had been more than aware of what he was doing. And soon everyone on the team was as well (almost everyone, that is). 

Ryuji was upset at first; not for any good reason, he just didn’t like that Ann was able to notice something about his best friend before him. Both Makoto and Haru thought it was sweet; Makoto would make comments about how close the two were always standing in hopes of clueing the dark blue haired boy in on their leader’s feelings, where Haru would try to snap cute pictures of Yusuke when they were out together to later send Akira’s way. Futaba faux cried; Sojiro had no idea what her problem was until she whined out ‘He’s so weird, I don’t wanna be related to him!’ and then he laughed, casting a glance to the boy behind the counter next to him that was turning red. Morgana was quick to say that Yusuke should be grateful that someone could look past his...everything and still fall for him; and then found it hard to not tease Joker when he’d move a little too fast to Fox’s side after a particularly nasty encounter with a shadow. 

Hell, it’s not like it was limited to the times where the pair were within 20 feet of each other; Akira would daydream in class, at work, while walking home with other friends and every day that Morgana didn’t feel like bothering him on the subway. He was even plagued while unconscious; waking up disappointed or in a cold sweat more often than not thanks to Yusuke.

Akira tried to focus on the painting the other at stopped them in front of. As much as the dark haired boy loved to hear the blue haired one talk, his dumb gay brain just couldn’t process any of the art lingo Yusuke was tossing out. It didn’t last for long, his eyes kept wandering and he wasn’t strong enough to keep fighting his desires.

He hadn’t really known what to expect when he first got shipped off, but whatever this moment was right now...he could have never imagined it. But fuck, if it wasn’t the most welcomed surprise this past year had to offer.

...

_ goddamn, you look holy _

_ bathed in the january light _

_ on the floor of our new bedroom _

_ on the carpet with the window opened wide. _

_ and when you tell me you love me, _

_ i can actually see it. _

_ your breath frozen in the air, _

_ newborn droplets of ice. _

_ you were the one thing i got right. _

…

Yusuke’s lips looked so...soft and kissable.

That’s all Akira could think about-- you’d think since he’s now able to press their lips together (something he did a lot), he wouldn’t be so preoccupied with such scandalous thoughts. But some things never change, it would seem.

The pair’s first kiss happened a few days after Akira was dumped off at Leblanc by Sae. Yusuke had shown up everyday and anxiously sat at the counter, barely responding to anything the owner or his daughter would say to him. Morgana was the only one outside of Sae and Sojiro that had seen him since he got back; anytime the cat attempted to ease his nerves by insisting that Akira was doing fine, the coffee mug in his hands would shake and clank against the plate it hovered over (the first day Yusuke came by he split his hot drink on himself; he barely even reacted, too consumed in worry and trying to convince himself that Morgana’s words were true). 

When he was finally given the okay to make the climb up the stairs to his leader’s room, he was near sprinting up them, stopping at the top with his heart pounding in his ears as his eyes land on his friend.

Akira had been sitting on the couch in his room, glasses tossed aside on his desk and dressed in loose fitting pajamas. A smile had stretched across his face as soon as he could hear Yusuke stomping up the steps, and he raised his hand in a weak wave as a greeting for the other.

Yusuke felt sick. Akira didn’t look good (he doesn’t even want to think about what state he was in when he first got home). His eye was bruised and his lip was swollen as was the bridge of his nose. He looked thin and frail; the bags under his eyes looked fake almost, and his usually charmingly mussed up hair was flat on his head from grease and dirt.

The artist took careful steps towards the other, feeling both his eyes and nose begin to sting (thankfully, he was able to keep the tears from falling on sheer willpower). Akira laughed awkwardly, a task that was obviously painful for him, as he patted the spot next to him.

He couldn’t look at Akira when he sat down. His hands were trembling as he stared at them, unsure of what to say. Yusuke wasn’t someone who was often at a loss for words; but he was so overwhelmed with emotion that he felt nauseous. What was the loudest one? Was it the guilt? The anger? The fear? The relief? 

There was no way to be sure. Until Akira’s feeble voice called out his name.

It was undoubtedly the relief.

Akira’s struggling through a teasing comment about Yusuke not swooning for rugged men when he forces himself to look into the injured boy’s eyes, which causes his words to halt.

Yusuke’s eyes are glassy, and Akira’s are quick to catch up. They sit like that for a long moment, feeling suffocated as they hold their breaths. 

And then Yusuke is moving slowly to cradle the other’s face in both hands. Akira can’t help but start weeping as Yusuke’s lip quivers in fear of doing the same. Instantly they scoot closer to one another, legs now pressed together while Akira’s own hands find their way to grip onto Yusuke’s shirt.

They could talk later; Yusuke knew they would. Neither of them had the energy or the words to describe how taxing all this had been. For Akira, it was rather obvious what the police had done to him before Akechi came in and attempted to murder the leader of the Phantom Thieves. For Yusuke...well for one he had to see his beloved friend in such a rough shape, but what was worse was the moment it was announced on the news that their leader had killed himself while in custody. 

Of course, Yusuke had known of their plan; how they were doing to lure the real bastard behind this all out and fake Akira’s death. But his blood still ran cold when this phase of the plan went into play. His mind was filled with nothing but echoes of possibilities that their plan could have messed up. Akechi was smart, what if he saw through them? What if Sae didn’t trust them? What if the police did Akira in before anyone else could? Without seeing Akira with his own eyes, he couldn’t make himself calm down. 

But now Akira was in front of him, alive and breathing in spite of all that transpired. 

So Yusuke leaned forward and kissed Akira gently. And he kissed back with no hesitation.

…

_ you were the obvious one. _

_ from a taxicab in chelsea _

_ out past salvation mountain. _

_ you were the obvious one. _

_ from a walk along the highline _

_ out to wicker park in august. _

_ you were the obvious one. _

_ from your upper-east side dorm room _

_ to the southwest marin headlands _

_ with you smiling in the sand. _

_ goddamn, i hate leaving. _

…

Since then, Akira spent hours going over the past few months in an attempt to figure out how he missed the other falling in love with him. Was he really that much of a fool that he didn’t realize that the boy who he was head over heels for and obsessing about returned his feelings?

God, it really was obvious, huh? At least it was on both ends, meaning Yusuke can’t ever use it against Akira.

They both really had it bad for the other. Akira knew his sins pretty well, but he felt like he would never discover all of his boyfriend’s.

Some things became clear as soon as they shared their first kiss. Like the constant texting, asking to hang out or just chat. Showing up to study sessions with everyone else even when he didn’t have exams at the same time (he’d just sit and sketch Akira, it was a good time and place to catch him in a natural and unguarded state). Passing him a soul drop even when he wasn’t particularly tired after a fight.

The boat ride where their knees were touching even though there was plenty of space. The conversations about love, passion and true meaning. The comment of how Yusuke would like to paint his smile someday.

The painting. The hope. The light.

Akira wished he had followed his gut that day; surging forward and pressing their lips together with urgency. He’s old his boyfriend such, who admitted to denying himself of the same desire.

There were also things that Yusuke was keen on taking to his grave.

Like how after the night he first stayed with Akira, he spent weeks painting and sketching out the peaceful look on his face and the odd ways his body contorted in an attempt to get comfortable. Or about how there was a playlist of over 100 songs on it that made Yusuke think of Akira after only a month of knowing him. 

Or how he one night he stood outside Futaba’s window throwing rocks until she let him in, waiting only until her bedroom door was shut tightly behind him before blurting out “I’ve encountered a truth of my own heart, and if unable to share this any longer I may just explode. It would seem that I am deeply in love with your brother, thoughts?” And Futaba laughed so hard she almost choked (luckily for Yusuke, they shared a deep gay/lesbian best friend solidarity, so she’d never rat him out. Unluckily for Yusuke, she also wouldn’t snitch on Akira’s feelings, no matter how painful it was to watch them fumbling around each other).

Both boys were so engrossed in their own tenderness that they were unable to recognize the reciprocation in the other.

  


…

_ i'm measuring heartbeats in miles away. _

_ you held me together. i used to burst and decay. _

_ we got off the airplane, a couple of runaways. _

_ i was hoping you'd stay. _

_ could you stay? _

…

Akira pulled out of his thoughts when Yusuke calls out his name softly, pressing his hand lightly against the shorter boy’s lower back. Instinctively he steps closer to the taller boy, having to fight with the corners of his mouth to keep them from tilting upwards.

“Hm?” He hums in response, dropping his head against Yusuke’s shoulder slightly.

“Not in the mood for art today?” He questions, tracing circles with his pointer finger on Akira’s back slowly.

Akira shifts to he can glance up at his boyfriend. “Just intoxicated by love, darling.” He drags out the last word, and lets out a snort as Yusuke rolls his eyes.

“Ah, should have known. You are a long time sufferer of gay disease.” 

“Got a fatal case, baby!”

They both laughed this time, getting shushed by a group of older women who were trying to read a plaque for one of the paintings. Yusuke moved the pair away from them swiftly, only stopping when they found themselves in a less trafficked section of the exhibit.

“I love you.” Akira says, a honey-sweet smile playing at his lips.

“I’m well aware.” The response earns him a light swat to the shoulder, but Akira doesn’t even have time to pout before Yusuke leaned down a bit to firmly press their lips together for a long moment.

Akira felt like he could melt; letting his arms slide around his boyfriend’s waist and pulling him closer with a dreamy sigh.

Yusuke pulled back with a charming grin. “I love you most ardently.”

The shorter boy squinted his eyes (did his boyfriend really just quote Pride and Prejudice at him?) and is about to let them roll dramatically, but the absolute and pure sincerity that could be found in Yusuke’s (unfairly beautiful) eyes just made Akira stand on his toes to initiate another tender kiss.

…

_ i'm measuring heartbeats in miles away. _

_ you held me together. i used to burst and decay. _

_ we got off the airplane, a couple of runaways. _

_ i'm glad that you stayed. _

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i was listening to the acoustic version of this song the other day and went cwazy thinking about shukita and ultimately decided to write a song fic loosely based around it...also decided that the original version felt a little more fitting for them dont ask me why it just does.
> 
> anyways i hope u enjoyed! i havent written a song fic sing middle school but i really like how this turned out and i adore writing yusuke tbh hfjdshjkhfl
> 
> hmu on tumblr @ dumbassology !


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